Getting Started Again

Whew. I finally got started again today. I began work on four small 8x10 inch acrylic paintings. I always work on four at a time so I can move on to another as the paint dries on the freshest one. That way I keep limber and keep moving. I like working on multiple things. It helps me concentrate.

It feels good to get started on the four because I know I'll finish them. Lately I have been busy making drawings and such but I haven't finished anything. For me finishing a drawing isn't the same as finishing a piece of artwork because a drawing is the means. A print or painting is the ends. That's where the art takes place. I like drawings because they're the guts of a piece of art but I find satisfaction in the finishing.

In order to finish a painting I have to have a good idea of what it is going to look like in the end. In the beginning that is. You see, it's in the beginning I have to be able to envision the painting and then work towards that vision. Putting paint on a canvas with no idea of where I want to go doesn't work for me. Some people may be able to pull it off but I can't. I need the drawings. That is where the envisioning is done. That's where I lay down the trail for my paintings to follow.

My problem wasn't an odd one. It was a problem of having too much vision. Or maybe just seeing all of the same things over and over. I was finishing drawings but there was a sameness to my process. I knew what the finished painting would look like as I completed the drawing. That was before I even got anywhere near the painting process. At times I have a tendency to over plan my work so I purposefully leave some wiggle room in my decision making so I can find surprises in the final steps of painting. Recently I could see the surprises coming so clearly they weren't surprises. I was boring myself. Not a good place to be.

So I tasked myself with finding new ways to paint. That is trickier than it sounds. I paint the way I do because that's what interests me. I don't have money or fame to motivate me to paint I just have my own interest in painting. I've gone down other paths and painted other ways but usually found them lacking. If a new approach to painting doesn't interest me than I won't paint. But the same path gets dull after a while too. Even if it goes to a pleasant place. Hence no finished paintings. Some half finished ones though. I guess they have their value.

So I thought about it, paced, distracted myself, made drawings, and worked for a living. That's been going on for many weeks now. I even started a couple of projects including a series of faces in ink and some drawing for new prints. I haven't been idle. But I finally just started to paint today. I couldn't fret over it any more. I don't even care if they turn out bad. They're kinda new and messy and lack my normal orderliness but what the hell. We'll see.

My vision might not be as clear but isn't that what I wanted? I believe so. I don't know the exact direction these pieces are going in. They're not a radical departure in any way but they are different enough. Different enough for me to have a vision of what I want them to be but the vision is a little vague and quite blurry. Nothing is in focus yet. But that's what's keeping me interested. Trying to hone that focus until it's razor sharp. It's all about the process, baby.

Comics I Bought: July 26, 2007

I'm back from this week's trip to the comic shop. I picked up five new comics and for the first time in weeks I got no TPBs or hardcover collections.

Love and Rockets 20

Buffy Season Eight 5

Usagi Yojimbo 104

The Walking Dead 39

Grendel Behold The Devil 0 (a 50¢ special)

A pretty good haul for me in a single week. I always liked Matt Wagner's Grendel so I'm glad to see he's back to making some more issues.

I only have one review for you this week. It was a slow week for reading comics.

The TPB - Michael Morcock's Elric "The Masking of a Sorcerer"

I first encountered Elric as a comic book way back in the early 80's when it was published by Pacific Comics. Or maybe the Marvel graphic novel was first? (1982 Marvel was first I just looked it up) Either way it wasn't until the mid 90's that I read the novels on which the comics were based. The novels are way better than the comics. As a matter of fact if the comics weren't being drawn by P. Craig Russell they really weren't very good at all. Still, I have a soft spot for Elric comics.

When I saw this series was actually written by Michael Morcock, the author of the novels, I was intrigued and wanted to pick it up. But the comic was printed in a square bound format that I hate so I decided to wait for a trade paperback collection. Two years later here it is. Though not drawn by P. Craig Russell I have no complaints because Walt Simonson handles the art chores.

I liked this book but I'm having a hard time reviewing it. I don't know if someone who knows nothing of Elric will be able to get into it. The story takes place before the first Elric novel and involves him learning the lessons he needs to know by sorcerous dreaming. He lies down on a dreaming couch and goes back in time to live and have adventures throughout his empire's (Melniboné) history. It's nicely done involving all the characters, gods, and races of the other Elric books.

This TPB is definitely different from most comics out there today. It's written by a prose author so there is lots to read. Especially when compared to the current "decompressed" trend in comic book writing. You won't complain that you read the whole thing in nine minutes. Some of the language is also a little formal. This is because a lot of the characters are high born royal snobs and talk like it. I usually find this a little off putting and still do here.

Overall I have to say pick this up if you are an Elric fan or want to see want Elric is all about. If you have no interest in sword and fantasy novels then I don't think this comic will change you mind. But I liked it.

Rain in the Park

Oh, let me tell you a story. A story about sitting in Bryant Park in the rain. Actually there is no story. I just like, "Oh, let me tell you a story" as an opening line. I need to amuse myself sometimes. Anyway, I was sitting in Bryant Park in the rain on Wednesday morning from about 9:15 AM until 9:45 AM. I was keeping dry under one of the large table umbrellas they have in the park so it's not like I was getting rained on. So this isn't an "I got caught in the rain and soaked to the bone" story. Those all end the same anyway. With the participant all wet. So who wants to hear another of those? Not me. I'm snobby like like that.

It's my habit when I go into NYC to work or to relax that I take a little time and sit in Bryant Park. Maybe draw a bit, maybe take some photos, and maybe just sit. There are tables and chairs in the park so this facilitates sitting and drawing pretty well. Do you know what doesn't facilitate drawing? Rain. That's right you heard it here first. Even under the cover of umbrellas paper gets damp and even wet. So when it's raining there is only sitting going on.

This past spring when I was also in the park as it was raining (passing showers the weatherman said) the park was really crowded. It was in the afternoon and more people were out for lunch when a shower hit. I couldn't even get a seat that time but managed to stand under a big table umbrella to keep dry. Many others were crowded under many umbrellas. That shower lasted half an hour and I didn't get to draw that day either. Took a few photos but not from a lot of angles. Just the "Portrait of Park From Under Umbrella" angle. It's a classic.

Wednesday I was easily able to get a seat because of the early hour and because this was no passing shower. It had been raining for most of the morning. And then a thunder storm that hit. Well, at least there was a little thunder maybe not a full blown "thunder storm". Usually when thunder is out and about I am inside so it was quite odd not to be. According to the "count the seconds between lightning and thunder" method the lightning was five to seven miles away but that didn't make it seem any safer as I sat under my umbrella. Lightning just seemed to appear in the air.

There were forty story buildings on all sides of me (Bryant Park isn't large and I was at its edge) so I guessed that I wasn't in any real danger from lightning but what do I know? Seventy five people could have been hit by lightning in the very chair I was sitting in and how would I know? I had no place to go right then and would have to cross open ground to get anywhere so I just sat with a few other people in the park. The streets were still filled with folks getting on with their day and none of us got hit by lightning. So we were all safe after the storm was said and done.

I've stood under my back porch during a thunder storm but I don't think I've ever been outside quite like I was on Wednesday. I may have been under a bus shelter or two during some lightning incidents but that was never by choice. And only until a bus came along. No, this was the first time I was out, sorta by choice, while all around me it rained and thundered. It made me feel like I was living dangerously. I'm not much of a danger hound but you could probably tell that from this story. If a story it is. Oh wow, I'm blowin' my mind up. Later.

Comics I Bought: July 19, 2007

Back from this weeks trip to the comic shop and I got one new comic and a trade paperback.

The Comic - Samurai Heaven and Earth Vol 2 - No 4

The TPB - Michael Morcock's Elric "The Masking of a Sorcerer"

I'll let you know how the Elric book is next week. Meanwhile here is some recent stuff I read.

Jack Kirby's "Silver Star"

I'm a bit odd among comic fans. My favorite work by Jack Kirby isn't his Fantastic Four, Challengers of the Unknown, Fourth World, or Captain America stuff. It's his Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers from the early Eighties. I think that's his best work because its is so filled with ideas that it's bursting at the seams. I also think Kirby is a good writer. I disagree with the common notion that his work is stronger when someone else scripts it. I prefer Kirby's writing, in general, to Stan Lee's. So it's a wonder that I've never read "Silver Star" his other early Eighties work and I'm glad Image comics choose to collect it all in a new hardcover collection.

Silver Star is the lead character in the book. Some time before he was born Silver Star's father decided that there was a good chance that mankind was going to be wiped out by a nuclear war. So Silver Star's father created a "genetic package" that could be delivered to babies in the womb that would make them into "homo-geneticus". The next breed of humans who could survive after we've gone.

Silver Star's father gave this "genetic package" to more babies than his own and now most of them have grown up. And most of them are good but one is particularly nasty and wants to kill the rest. Especially Silver Star. Oh, and the nuclear war never happened so the world goes on as usual.

It's not easily boiling this series down to a couple of paragraphs. They are a lot of strange super powers thrown around that have as much to do with perception as with traditional super powers. There is a fair amount physical conflict but also a lot of philosophical conflict. This is what I like about this series. The characters discuss their ideas and the ramifications of those ideas. All the while acting and being faced with unforeseen consequences. It's simple and complex all at the same time as with a lot of Jack Kirby's later work.

I could spend all day talking about the wild ideas in this book. Such as that all the "super normals" (as those given the "genetic package" are called) can go to an alternate space called "elsewhere" where they make all the rules. This is the kind of stuff that, at Marvel and DC, Kirby would make up and move on from and then other writers would spend years exploring the minutiae of. The entire DC Universe came to be based on Kirby's Fourth World books and Marvel's (to a lesser extent) on his Eternals. But I digress. If you like your comics to be the same old some old or "modern" (like there's a difference) than this book isn't for you. Buy if you enjoy the unfamiliar and the novel (even after all these years) check out "Silver Star". Recommended.

"The Fall" by Ed Brubaker and Jason Lutes

Here is another comic I pulled of of my shelves to give another read too. It originally ran sometime in the late Nineties in the pages of "Dark Horse Comic Presents" but it is the 2001 printing by Drawn and Quarterly that I am reading here. It's about 44 pages.

I remember this story being a standout when it ran in DHP. I haven't read it since I bought this 2001 printing but it's still a standout. "The Fall" is a mystery story of the type I wish they were more of in comics. It's all about a normal guy who finds a purse buried in an acquaintance's yard and gets interested in it's contents so he starts trying to find things out about it's owner. Thus starts the mystery.

The characters are everyday people and I find that they ring true. The pacing is good as the mystery unfolds. Even though I've read this before and know the answers to the mystery it is such a well crafted story that it holds up well. This is my favorite piece of writing by Ed Brubaker and I'm also a fan of Jason Lute's work in general like his current series "Berlin". You definitely can't go wrong with this comic if you can find it. Recommended.

Tidy Up You Lords of Entropy

Man, I've got to clean up and put things in order again. It's never ending this entropy thing. There are always things to clean up or fix. The world is a messy place. Got to apply energy to the system.

One of my bookshelves looks like something happened to it and the shelves are slightly lower on one side. It didn't used to be like this but some funny things have happened to that shelf. It's a shelf I built myself a few years ago out of 1x8 pine. I don't build the prettiest shelves in the world but they get the job done. The strange thing was that, just this winter, I noticed the left side of the bottom shelf had nothing holding it up. No screws or fasteners attached the horizontal shelf to its vertical side board. How did this happen? It's not like the screws fell out. They were never there. Yet the shelf has been standing fine since I built it without the bottom shelf even sagging. Blew my mind.

I lost a few books on that shelf because of water damage when a pipe burst. Nothing important just a few volumes of Essential Fantastic Four. At least the cheap books got wet and not my hardcovers. Water can be evil. Now I have to take all the books of the shelf and see what's making it lean. Got to apply energy to the system.

I've got paper and canvases lying around the studio cluttering things up. I have to find a place for them so I can get some work done. I'm not a neatnik but when clutter reaches a certain critical level I can't get anything done until I make some elbow room.

I have some books that I have to find room for on the shelves. That's always a challenge and the reason why I build shelves everywhere that I can. I also have a few new boxes of comics that I need to put somewhere. I'm going to get rid of them on Ebay someday but not soon enough. They need to find a place to be.

And the tile has been slowly breaking off of my floor. That's been going on for ages and being a crazy artist I've been wanting to make a mosaic where the blank spots are. Of course that means having to learn to make a tile mosaic. I need some tile nippers and safety glasses. And some grout and tile cement and whatever else sticks tile to the floor. More energy into the system.

I have to try out my new brushes and ink too. I bought three new Windsor Newton Series 7 Number 3 brushes last week to replenish my stock but I haven't had the chance to try one out. They should be just as good as all the other brushes of that type I've had over the years but it's always exciting to have a new one. I also bought a brand of ink I've never used before: Blick Black Cat Waterproof India Ink. I hope it's good stuff. My favorite ink has always been Higgins T 100 Drafting Film Ink but it's harder to come by these days. I guess there's not as much need for drafting film as there used to be.

I did finally resurface my drawing table after all these years. I found a cheaper cutting mat ($40 as opposed to $80) that is the bees knees with me. That dirty old Borco / Vyco Drawing Board Cover I had on it is finally gone. The new cutting mat cleans easier and doesn't buckle in direct sunlight. Some afternoons my Borco covering would get wavy if it was a particularly hot day. It was annoying but I lived with it. Not anymore. I applied energy to the system.

Comics I Bought: July 12, 2007

On this week's trip to the comic shop I picked up one comic and one hardcover:

StormWatch Post Human Division - 9

Jack Kirby's "Silver Star"

There are a whole lot of nice hardcover collections around these days. I dig 'em more than trade paperbacks and am willing to pay the few extra dollars. I've never read "Silver Star" but Kirby's "Captain Victory" is a favorite of mine. They were both published by Pacific Comics in the early eighties yet somehow "Silver Star" managed to slip through my fingers. Not anymore. I'll let you know how it is. Meanwhile here are a couple of other things I've read lately.

"Silverfish" by David Lapham

Since I rarely know what comics are coming out from week to week this hardcover from Vertigo was a surprise to me. I'm a big fan of David Lapham's crime comics such as "Stray Bullets" and "Murder Me Dead". I haven't payed much attention to his Marvel and DC work though. I checked out the first issue of Batman he wrote but it didn't interest me, I looked at an issue of the Punisher that he did and still wasn't interested, and I read a couple of issues of The Spectre that he wrote. They were better than the others but not my cup of tea. That's why I was happy to see a crime graphic novel from him.

All of Lapham's crime stuff plays off a basic concept. An ordinary person, for whatever reason, takes a walk on the wild side and gets involved with criminals and shady characters. Before that person knows it everything goes wrong, the violence starts, and hell is coming to supper. The ordinary person is either redeemed or dragged down. Fun stuff.

This particular book is about a teenage girl who has a new stepmother that she doesn't like so one day this girl and her friends start digging into the stepmother's past. Bad idea. Bad things are dug up and they leave destruction in their wake. The girl has to run for her life. I dig it.

I liked the story. I liked Lapham's return to the crime genre but I didn't like some of the choices about the production of the book. First of all it's small: 6.5 x 9 inches. That's a little wider but much shorter than a regular comic. I like my comics bigger than that. Some comics are okay in a smaller size (Wimbledon Green) but I think Lapham's art should be seen bigger than this. His oversized "Stray Bullets" hardcovers are terrific.

This is also a black and white book. Not a problem for me. Lapham's other work, that I like, is also in black and white. Except for this one they used a whole bunch of grey tones over the black and white art. Everything has a grey tone and texture. That muddies up the art for me. Flattens it all out. I'd really like to have seen this printed without the grey. I think it hurts the storytelling and is generally annoying. But not as to break the book's back.

One more quibble. This time it has to do with the story. Whenever you see a story which has a kid with an asthma inhaler ("Signs" anyone?) you just know there will be a scene at the end in which the kid will not be able to breathe and will not have his inhaler. Oh, the predictable drama. I warn you there is a kid with an inhaler in this book. Just once I want the kid with the inhaler to not need saving and instead save the others. Hmmm... I think in "The Simpsons" Bart used a kid's inhaler as a snorkel and saved the day. That almost qualifies.

A bigger physical size to the book and no grey tones would have made me happier. But you can't always get what you want. Still, I like a good crime story and David Lapham's are real good. I dig his "things spiraling out of control" take on life and I'm on board for his next one. Check this one out first.

"Supergirl - Power" Trade paperback which reprints Superman/Batman 19 and Supergirl 1-5

This is the latest version of Supergirl and I'm not even sure who all the other ones were. I've never read much Supergirl. This book started out slow with a whole bunch of "who am I and where do I fit in?" angst from Supergirl as she spent three issues in a row getting into "misunderstanding" fights with other super heroes. Oy! It almost broke me.

I nearly gave up on it except I was impressed by the artwork by Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund (the coloring varied in quality but was generally okay). I've seen some of Churchill's work over the years but never found it very interesting. This stuff I liked though. He's a guy from the post-Image era of lots of useless little lines but there is less of that here and more good drawing. He's even managed to incorporate the early nineties random pinup shot into his storytelling. Churchill's pinup shots actually make sense here instead of interrupting the storytelling. A really solid super hero job. And his cover homages were well done.

The second have of the book is the payoff. Less whining and more good fight scenes that aren't forced like they were in the first half. Battles in space, battles on the moon, and battles in Gotham city. The last few issues have lots of good fights and we get our questions answered about what Supergirl was whining about. Plus we get mad scientist wrapped in armor Lex Luthor back in action. I never found businessman Lex Luthor interesting at all. I'm glad he's gone. The second half of this story saved it for me. Check it out if you're in the mood for some Supergirl.

Anticipation Contemplation

"The days are just thick with anticipation."

Or at least I wish they were because then I might be living in the pages of some exciting novel. That sounds like fun right about now as I sit here on a hot July afternoon not doing much of anything. I don't think I've ever had days thick with anticipation. I can remember some days thick with dread. I don't remember what the dread was about but I definitely remember the feeling. My memory sure can be foggy at times. I was talking with a friend last weekend about days long gone by and neither of us had any clue about the order of a small sequence of events. Memory is a tricky thing. It can come and go.

I imagine if I did have days thick with anticipation they were in my youth and I have now forgotten them. Youth is when everything is new and exciting and you don't even know it because you're in the middle of it and new and exciting is the way things always have been. The norm. I wonder what age that feeling of new and exciting, that you don't even know you have, wears off. Maybe days of anticipation are not to be found after age twenty eight or so. Or maybe I just don't have them right now.

I don't even like drama in life. I'm not one of those people who has to create a crisis all the time to feel alive. Crisis is something you deal with as quickly as possible and then move on. If you can. Peace and quiet is fine with me. As long as boredom doesn't rear its ugly head. For some people peace and quiet goes had in hand with boredom. But it has been my observation that people who find peace and quiet boring don't like to think. Thinking is something I enjoy. And it takes a fair bit of peace and quiet. Boredom is when you can't think straight anymore and there is nothing to distract you from that fact. At least in my world.

I'm not even sure if I know what days thick with anticipation means. I remember a feeling of anticipation before going on a trip. There was some excitement but it came and went in the week leading up to departure. I don't remember and days being thick before a trip.

Somehow in my imagination when I think of days thick with anticipation I picture sitting on a front porch on a hot and humid day sipping on a cool drink. There are other people on the porch with me. I think that is key. You can only anticipate so much when you are by yourself but others multiply the anticipation. Somehow this all takes place in the south. I'm not sure why. Maybe that's because it's where the humidity and front porches are. Sure we got some of those up here in NY but for a shorter time. No days are thick with anticipation when there is snow on the ground. It's too cold to anticipate anything except an oncoming storm.

Maybe I need a "High Noon" situation. That movie was thick with anticipation. Y'know, Frank Miller comin' in on the noon train to kill Gary Cooper. Frank's boys waitin' for him at the station. No one in the town wanted to stick his neck out to help ol' Coop. They were all just waiting to see if he would get killed. Yeah, maybe that won't work for me. Not being a sheriff in a movie the whole thing would probably just fill me with dread. That I don't need.

No, I need something good to anticipate. Plus a front porch, a hot day, a cool drink, and others around me to help with the anticipation. Then the day will be thick with anticipation. Just a phrase that caught my attention and imagination this afternoon.

Comics I Bought This Week: July 5, 2007

Just back from the local comic shop for the week and I picked up two new comics.

Supernatural Origins 3

City of Others 3

Plus I picked up a hardcover.

"Silverfish" by David Lapham. I'm a fan of his "Stray Bullets" and "Murder Me Dead" so I grabbed this new one. I'll let you know how it is.

Meanwhile here are a few things I've been reading.

"Girls" 3&4 by the Luna Brothers

Last week I picked up two trade paperback collections (numbers 3 and 4) of
"Girls" by the Luna brothers. Since I already have TPBs number 1 and 2 then I obviously like the story. How are trades 3 and 4? Just as good.

"Girls" is a "survival horror" story. I don't know who coined that term but I first read it in conjunction with video games. Now it applies to books and movies too. It basically means that the story is simple. People trying to survive a bad situation. The bad situation in "Girls" is this: in a small town in the USA a hot naked girl suddenly appears out of the woods. She finds a sympathetic young man to take her home and seduces him. Then she lays some eggs that hatch into more hot naked girls. The girls proceed to go around and try kill the women in town and seduce the men. The townspeople figure out what's happening and try to escape only to find their entire town has been encapsulated in a giant impenetrable energy bubble. Now the townspeople just want to survive this horror. Hence the name of the genre.

The book I would compare this to the most is "The Walking Dead". Where "The Walking Dead" has zombies "Girls" has girls. The people in "Girls" seem a lot more mean and prone to panic than in "The Walking Dead". Plus the gender divide of the girls killing only women makes for an interesting dynamic. It's bloody violent too. The story is simple so it's really about who lives and who dies.

I must warn you that I'm not really a fan of the art in "Girls". The "no line weight" style plus the coloring remind me of a badly rotoscoped cartoon. I generally find it ugly. But the storytelling was good and the story interesting and that was enough for me to overlook my distaste for the art style. Don't be afraid of how it looks if you're an old school guy like me. I also recommend starting with book one because there are no real recaps as the story goes along. Book four is the conclusion of the story so you can read the whole thing from end to end right now. Give it a go.

Frank Miller's "Ronin" issues 1-6

Here is another comic that has been sitting on my shelf since 1983. I remember re-reading it a couple of years after it came out but that still puts it at twenty years since I've looked at this comic. I must say that the paper it was printed on is great. It looks as crisp and white as the day it was printed. No old yellowing newsprint here.

I always think of "Ronin" as the forgotten Frank Miller work. Sure it has had a recent reprinting in a trade from DC comics to glom off of the advertising for the movie of Frank Miller's "300" but I never hear anyone mention "Ronin". It never comes up in conversation with my comic loving friends or any of the web sites or magazines about comics that I read. "Ronin" was published after Frank Miller's star making run on Daredevil but before his much lauded "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns". I decided to give it a read.

"Ronin" is the story of a samurai who's master was killed by a demon so said samurai (now a masterless samurai a "ronin") goes after and kills the demon. But not before the demon curses them and ronin and demon are trapped in a magic sword. Flash forward to the 21st century (which was the future when this book was written) in a dystopian, sci-fi, depressed NYC where the demon and the ronin are let loose again. Now you've got it.

In re-reading the series I can kinda see why "Ronin" has been forgotten. The first three issues or so of the series are quite ordinary. Everything is straight forward and all of the characters are one dimensional and act exactly like you think they will. There is not much here. But the story is designed that way. I think that part of the story is supposed to be transparent because it sets up the last three issues.

It's the second half of the story that things get interesting. Expectations are turned on their heads and characters expand and start to do unexpected things. The story takes some twists and goes to places not evident in the first three issues. This is good stuff.

The problem is that each issue is 48 pages and that is 100-150 pages before things get interesting. I almost stopped reading with the second issue but I was enjoying the hammock I was lying in so I kept going. I imagine many a person has started reading "Ronin" only to put it down because they were bored. This can really make a work forgotten.

Overall there is plenty of nice Frank Miller work in "Ronin". It's an interesting story eventually and is worth checking out as long as you know that the second half is much better than the first.

The Ministry of Space issues 1-3

Another series I pulled off of my shelf to give a second read to. The first two issues came out in 2001 but it took until 2004 to get the third issue out. It's written by Warren Ellis with art by Chris Weston and colors by Laura DePuy.

You gotta love those English and their love/hate relationship with their government and empire. Ministry of Space is an alternate history tale in which a World War 2 visionary S.O.B. English air corps officer uses betrayal and deceit to capture all of the German rocket scientists at the end of the war. With these scientists and a secret black budget he creates the British space program that far outstrips any other space program. Is that good or bad is the question that hangs in the air throughout this series.

That is about the extent of the plot but this comic is about much more than plot. It's about the glory of the British Empire and the price paid for that glory. It's about borderline madmen who push the empire forward despite the costs. It's about showing in a step by step way how individuals effect history (the "Great Man" hypothesis). And it's about the rich visuals that Weston brings to illustrate all those cool spaceships and their evolution. Hell, even the guys standing around in uniforms and suits look cool.

Everybody brings their best work to "Ministry of Space" and I like it a lot. I'm a big fan of history so this is right up my alley. It is just a lot of fun. Recommended.

Next

Ahhh... what to do next... what to do next. I've been busy lately. I've had a few freelance gigs going on and I've also been working on some drawing of my own. I've just finished seventeen drawings in ink of strange faces made up of various shapes, curves and lines. Each takes about four hours so my time has been filled. I like drawing faces. I find it interesting. The weird thing is I don't really know what they're for. Most of my drawing is with an end in mind of making finished colored painting, print, comics, or such. I had no end in mind as I did these and now that they are finished I'm at a loss as to exactly what they are. It's a strange feeling.

I want to do some painting now that I have a little time. I need to start something new. But first I need to think about painting and I'm a bit tired. Bad sleeping lately because of some minor back pain. This sleepy state leaves me to wonder instead of think. I wonder what are these drawings I just did? I remember a vague idea for them related to making them into a comic but how to do that I never figured out. I started them anyway.

I also want to make a book. There is a site called lulu.com that prints books to order. You can sell the book there too but I just want to make one. Except I haven't thought out what I want it to be yet. More contemplating to be done. The drawings could have something to do with it but what? A lot of wondering and yawning today and not much thinking. At least I got the grass cut.

I have plenty to do once I figure things out. I have a couple of small canvases all ready to go. I have a new batch of 22x30 watercolor paper just sitting here waiting to become something. I have six tubes of colored acrylic paint waiting to be all mixed together to make black. I use a black line as well as black as a color in much of my painting and rather than buy a tube of black paint I get six or so tubes of colored paint and mix them together. It makes a much richer black than any tube I've ever purchased. I learned that reading about Ad Reinhardt the master of black paint.

I think I want to pull out my gouache paint too. That is what I'd use with the watercolor paper that I mentioned before. I usually use gouache to make small, about 5x7 inch, paintings. I haven't painted that size in awhile so I want to give it a go. Of course that means I'd have to figure out what I'm going to paint instead of just wondering about it.

I still have a pile of small, 8x10 inch, canvases that I do my acrylic painting on. I'm not sure if I want to mess with those right now but maybe I do. I'll have to dig through my drawing books to see if there is anything I want to turn into a painting. I could draw in my drawing book too. That's how most of my work starts out. As a tiny little pen drawing in my 5x7 inch spiral bound drawing book. The drawings aren't even 5x7. I almost always do several on a page.

Sometimes I do nothing but make image after image in that book and then go back and look at them weeks later to see what's there. I'll even go through my drawing books from years gone by to see what I did. Often something I didn't even notice at the time I made it will stand out and get made into a finished piece years later.

For a change of pace I might want to work on a photograph. I've been taking pictures but I haven't made them into anything finished in a while. Most of my photo work is done on the computer and I've been on it so much for freelance work that I haven't wanted to mess with any photos. But maybe now? I gotta clear my head and think. It's time for a nap.